Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

Immigrants Mobilize for War With Trump

Most Americans oppose mass deportations. Will that make a difference?

January 30, 2017 at 1:29 PM UTC

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

Here today, gone tomorrow?
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

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Less than four years ago, more than two-thirds of the Senate voted to create a path to citizenship for long-resident undocumented immigrants. Last week, President Donald Trump signed an order to mobilize the mass deportation of those same people.

No issue has more accurately reflected the nation's political whiplash than immigration. The 2013 bill was a reflection of humane technocracy and political compromise. It created a deliberate path to citizenship of 13 years. Trump's order is saturated in racial anxiety and cruelty for its own sake. It went into effect immediately.